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Last year's total, in which 688 companies raised
private funds, was 46 percent higher than $2.3 billion in 2013,
IVC, in cooperation with the Israeli office of consultancy KPMG,
said in a report.
Israel's high-tech sector is among the world's largest and is a
major growth driver, accounting for around 12.5 percent of
economic output, 8 percent of the country's jobs and more than
50 percent of industrial exports.
The industry is an investment magnet, attracting hundreds of
multinationals like Apple, Intel and Google, who have been eager
to snap up local start-ups and set up R&D centers.
In the fourth quarter, high-tech companies raised $1.1 billion,
the most in one quarter since 1999, up 39 percent from a year
earlier. Over the past decade, the quarterly average was $470
million.
"The hike in capital raised by Israeli
high-tech companies directly reflects the continuing increase in
the number of large deals," said Koby Simana, chief executive of
the IVC Research Center, noting that capital raised in large
deals more than doubled in 2014 to over $1.3 billion.
Ofer Sela, a partner at KPMG's technology group, noted that in
2014, 39 companies completed financing rounds of more than $20
million.
"We believe that the maturity level of Israel-based companies in
2015 will attract private equity investors, resulting in even
higher amounts raised per revenue-growth company," he said.
During 2014, Internet companies led capital raising at 28
percent, followed by the life sciences and software.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Keith Weir)
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